Endeavor
by ShardOfSoul
Summary: A look into the childhood and U.A. Experience of the #2 hero.


Chapter 1: Enji Todoroki. Prequel 1.

Akemi watched her little boy running around outside, he was so cute with his big blue eyes and neat brown hair. Her husband was out, he worked ridiculous hours, as an executive chef at a restaurant often does. She saw him crouched down, probably playing with some bugs, or if she knew her little boy, trying to save them. Akemi went back to her housework letting the boy play outside while reminiscing on the past 4 years with her son. Everything from his first words to the one statement that scared her more than anything.

"I want to be a hero mom!" Akemi remembered the first time she heard those words, her precocious son was only 3. Still the words sent her heart sinking, though she knew it was a proud and noble profession, images of her dead or severely injured baby boy flashed before her eyes. In the back of her mind, she prayed her son would have a worthless quirk for heroism, or even be quirkless like her.

Enji continued running around outside, he had already saved a spider from a drainpipe, he was a little nervous, kindergarten was starting soon, most of the kids his age already had their quirks. All the quirks are so cool, especially the ones the pro heroes use. After what felt like just a few minutes of running around and playing with toys he heard his mom call "Enji!" its time to come in!". He quickly replied "coming mom!" and ran inside to see his favorite person in the whole world… though dad was a close second. He smiled at her as he ate and then followed her to his study room.

Akemi made sure her son studied every day, even at just 2 years she could tell she had a brilliant mind on her hands and hurried to nurture it, even so she tried to be gentle with it, she found that she practically just had to put the information in front of her little angel and he gobbled it up faster than his favorite foods, he already had a solid grasp on four function math and basic writing, his physical body though, clearly wasn't keeping up, his math was barely readable and his japanese was indecipherable to anyone but her, she focused mainly on improving his hand strength and coordination, fortunately this was already a well documented field of treatment, especially for mild cases like little Enji, so he was making rapid progress, his numbers and letters much better than before. After studying/training for an hour she told him it was time to stop and then asked "So sweetie, are you ready for your first days of pre-school?"

"I think so," The precocious child began "but I think I'll miss you too much mommy."

She giggled at the cute statement, simultaneously sad that there really were no other kids in their neighborhood. "Well sweetie, I'll miss you too, but it's important to make friends your own age as well." She paused noting her son's confusion before deciding to take a tactful approach. "When you are a pro hero you will need to be able to get along with people of all ages, the first step of course is remembering your manners, however making friends with people is another key step in being a good hero."

Enji smiled "Yes mommy! I'll do my best." Akemi let her son help her set the table for when Eichi got home, she loved her husband but she found it mildly annoying in the back of her head that the man was so constantly supportive of her son's suicidal dream, it made her feel like a bad mother, but she kept telling herself, no one does what they wanted to do when they were four.

Enji woke up screaming, he saw his bedcover was on fire, he felt the heat burning his arm, as he screamed in pain he jumped out of his bed. Eichi ran in, not fearing the heat due to his quirk he quickly grabbed his son and got him out of the room "Call the fire department" he yelled at the now awake akemi as he ran back in with a fire extinguisher. Not caring about the heat he held his breath knowing the smoke would make it hard, he focused on the sources with the extinguisher, reducing the fire drastically before he had to leave the room for air.

*Eichi Todoroki: Quirk "heat" he can generate heat waves up to 150 degrees celsius and can resist heat up to 3 times that temprature.*

After a few seconds to breath he ran back in… Another wave of extinguisher stopped the fire, by the time the fire department arrived it was entirely dealt with. The fire department was a little upset but overall everyone was just happy that nothing truly bad happened, somehow even Enji was unburned.

"Do you know what caused the fire?" The firefighter asked, a concerned look on his face.

"I have an idea." Eichi had a small smile in spite of the situation. "My quirk generates heat waves, I think it's very possible that my son's quirk spontaneously activated and accidentally caused a fire in some way. I can't be sure, but if he didn't, I can't think of how he got through that with no burns."

As if to prove their point, everyone say a small fire, barely larger than that of a good lighter, appear in the palm of young Enji's hand. After a few seconds he screamed in pain and the fire disappeared. The firefighter looked very concerned.

"Get him a quirk assessment and initial quirk counseling as soon as possible. Flames are one of the most dangerous quirks in an urban environment." With that warning they left. Akemi was now dancing with her son, she knew how happy he was to finally have his quirk, and anything was better than thinking about how close the house got to burning down. That would need to be dealt with, but later, for now a celebration… in her head she noted 'a small flame that causes him pain to use, almost useless as a heroic quirk.' She smiled. 'My little boy will be safe. Always.'


End file.
